Brain Based Solutions to Toxins at Work

Give yourself 1 point for each correct survey score. Did you score below 20 points on the Workplace Survey? Then why not toss 1 brain based solution into action each month until wellness defines your workplace.

1. Is boredom more a reality at your work than passion for daily targets? Ifyou answered Yes to workplace boredom, you’ll be interested to know that boredom’s a choice, and you can rejuvenate your brain by changing a few basic routines. Drive new route to work, wear color you rarely wear, invite boss or janitor for lunch, laugh at the little things, or during a boring meeting, jot down one dream you’ve yet to accomplish and add doable steps toward your dream from one idea triggered by the speaker. Whenever you apply insights to improve practice boredom flees.

2. Does your workplace setting inspire staff to transform problems into solutions? Ifyou answered No to inspired workplace setting, change furniture, tidy your area, toss in a plant for naturalistic intelligence, play quiet background music, or suggest a prize for the coolest solution offered to resolve a stubborn workplace problem.

3. Would well-being describe the daily state of most workers in your organization? Ifyou answered No to workplace well being, laugh, care, give, walk, play, eat well, or serve, and you’ll add serotonin for positive change.

4. Does anger, fear, or frustration fuel bullying among fellow workers? Ifyou answered Yes to the presence of anger at work, step back, breathe or focus on a fun event, and ask peers what they’d do to prevent the amygdala from defaulting back to negatives at work. This strategy works especially well when suggested at a staff meeting or a reflective round-table. It works less well when people are already upset.

5. Would venting be heard in your staff’s lunch room much of the time? Ifyou answered Yes to venting problems at work, why not communicate goodwill – on the other side of a controversial issue. Use good tone. For example, show how you value the goodwill built with those who disagree, when you respect the other side – and chase a common solution.

6. Do people try new projects and learn skills on a regular basis where you work? Ifyou answered No to lack of newness, try a solution today, that a top leader would win awards for doing well. Take a risk to learn a new technology program, or start an interactive blog for staff to share staff input on a new project. Invite a social media expert to facilitate staff in online benefits for business brains.

8. Do your managers and leaders talk more, or engage and listen more? Ifyou answered Yes to engagement, ask questions that will generate great exchange of ideas on your topic. Suggest a round-table discussion over lunch, on the role facilitators play in mind-bending creative initiatives with winning results.

9. Do old guard workers kill incentives in others and adhere to traditions themselves? Ifyou answered Yes to stubborn traditions, approach one routine differently daily, even if it’s to walk stairs rather than ride elevator. Suggest during the next team meeting, that people share their best strategies that would ensure ongoing growth in the team.

10. Is diversity training a poor solution for the lack of acceptance or equity? Ifyou answered Yes to diversity training’s poor outcomes, take another look. Discuss new research that shows diversity helps in any workplace – but rarely in ways training suggests. Compare how race, gender and other social distinctions foster more thinking and better results, inspiring groups to mix it up.

14. Are some workers celebrated more for their intelligence than others? Ifyou answered Yes to a lack of recognition for mental acumen, deliberately do one task from each of your 8 intelligences over the next week.

16. Would focus be a typical characteristic when new challenges appear? Ifyou answered No to focus, or nod toward frantic, create a to do list, create hook for keys, or jot down directions received. A brain literally must choose focus over frantic daily.

17. Would most consider themselves younger and smarter because of success? Ifyou answered No to agility, why not break the ice and tell three people your age. It’s a terrific segue to remind them about miracles of neurogenesis, where workers find inspiration in maturity.

18. Encouragement can change the chemistry of a brain through raised serotonin. Ifyou answered No to an atmosphere of support – do the opposite of bad moods today and watch emotional intelligence kick in. It takes intrapersonal intelligence, and it inspires others, through mirror neurons, to do the same.

19. Are relationships tense or trust lacking as people don’t say what they mean? Ifyou answered Yes to poor relationships at work, encourage others to say what they really mean by finding the tone to disagree. When people learn brain based skills to speak honestly, the entire workplace benefits.

20. Do people integrate hard and soft skills to solve problems with finer solutions? Ifyou answered No to accurate integration of workplace skills, apologize to colleagues impacted by errors made. Then teach a wronged person a math or science skill that transforms traditional approaches into brain based smart skills.

21. Does stress appear often or tone act more as silent killer than caring staff? Ifyou answered Yes to tone toxins, walk today toward lower stress, and listen to improve your tone when stressors hit. Walk up stairs rather than take an elevator, walk during your breaks, find excuses to move more as you work. When you walk more, you increase the brain’s oxygen for solutions against stressors that enter most workplaces. Did you know that 22 stressors strike the average worker on an ordinary day?

22. Do workers often speak other’s name with a spike in personal awareness? Ifyou answered No, why not ask names of three new people you meet today and then speak their names in response. Research shows that when a person hears their name spoken – their brains activate areas of well being, and we know that adds serotonin for more productivity in any workplace.

23. Do leaders inspire creativity and invention through teaching others? Ifyou answered No to cooperative learning for innovative benefits, why not teach one skill to another person at the same time you too are learning it. Did you know that you retain far more when you teach others, than when you merely listen to lectures or read? That’s why some say it’s better to teach your dog a new skill at the same time you’re learning it, than to listen to a talk on the topic.

24. Do workers and leaders look at problems with solutions in mind at work? Ifyou answered No suggest one approach to doable solutions for a problem you face today – then do it to model the results. For example, displace a large T chart on a workplace bulletin board or wall. Then write a problem to the left of the T. Invite colleagues to offer solutions by listing them on the left side of the T. Suggest the group meet in a week or so to discuss all solutions, and offer a reward for the solution that the group agrees to use.

25. Are women’s and men brain valued intellectually in ways that optimize talents? Ifyou answered No to … affirm men’s and women’s brains in balance today so that both prosper.

How many of these brain related solutions would remove toxins from your workplace? How many could offer you healthier outcomes where you work? Will others witness well-being because you or I worked today?